Safety & Safeguarding
Last Updated: July 1, 2026 · Version 1.2
Working with students — many of them minors — comes with real responsibility. This page explains the steps R² Academy Tutoring takes to keep your child safe, the rules every tutor follows, and how to reach us if anything ever feels wrong.
1. Tutor Screening
Before working with any student, every R² Academy tutor:
- Provides a current Vulnerable Sector Verification (VSV) — a deeper-level police background check specifically designed for people working with vulnerable individuals, including children — on file, or in process, before working unsupervised with a student. We require it to be no more than 24 months old, and we keep a copy on file.
- Signs a written tutor services agreement that includes a code of conduct — including the rules in section 2 below — and consequences for breach.
- Confirms the educational background and tutoring experience listed in their profile.
If a tutor's VSV expires or returns a result that conflicts with our standards, they are removed from active rotation immediately.
Tutors under 18. Police services do not issue a Vulnerable Sector Verification to anyone under 18. The small number of our tutors who are exceptional high-school students under 18 are personally interviewed and vetted by us, teach online only, in recorded sessions — never in a family's home — and complete their full Vulnerable Sector Verification as soon as they turn 18.
2. Conduct Rules for Every Session
The following rules apply to every R² Academy session involving a student under 18, in any format. They are non-negotiable for both tutors and clients.
In-home and community sessions
- An adult parent or guardian must remain on the premises for the full duration of the session.
- Sessions take place in a common area of the home (dining room, living room, kitchen) — never in a bedroom. Doors stay open.
- Tutors do not transport students, run errands with them, or supervise them outside scheduled session times.
- Tutors are not permitted to administer medication, food, or any treatment to a student.
Online sessions
- Sessions run on LumenBoard, a dedicated virtual classroom platform. Students join only through their tutor's private link — no public links or open waiting rooms — and the tutor uses an R²-issued account, not a personal one.
- The student joins from a shared/common space — not a bedroom — with a parent or guardian able to check in periodically.
- Online sessions are recorded. Every session on LumenBoard is recorded by R² Academy for safety, quality, and tutor training. Parents consent to this when booking an online session; recordings are stored securely, are seen only by authorized R² Academy staff and the assigned tutor, and are handled in line with our Privacy Policy. (In-home sessions are not recorded — a parent stays on the premises instead.)
Communication
- Tutors and students do not communicate outside scheduled sessions through personal channels — including text messages, social media, personal email, or any messaging app.
- All scheduling, content, and follow-up communication goes through the parent or guardian, or through R² Academy's official admin email.
Photos, video, and testimonials
- We will not use a student's name, photo, video, voice, or schoolwork in any marketing, social media, or public-facing material without the parent or guardian's prior written consent for that specific use.
- Consent can be withdrawn at any time and we will remove the material from any channel within our control.
3. Reporting a Concern
If you ever feel that something about a session, a tutor's conduct, or your child's experience isn't right — at any point, however small — please tell us right away. We take every concern seriously and we'd much rather hear about something early than find out later.
📧 Email: admin@r2academytutoring.com — please put "Safety concern" in the subject line. We aim to acknowledge within 1 business day and respond substantively within 5.
If a session has already ended and you believe the tutor's behaviour breached the rules above, you can request that we:
- Pause or terminate the engagement at no cost
- Reassign you to a different tutor
- Provide a written summary of the steps we have taken in response
If you believe a child is in immediate danger
Please contact local emergency services first (in Canada, dial 911) and then notify us. If a disclosure or observation suggests possible harm to a child, R² Academy Tutoring will cooperate with the appropriate child-welfare authority — in Ontario, this is the Ontario Association of Children's Aid Societies — as required by law.
4. Privacy & Data
How we handle the personal information you share with us — including any sensitive information about your child — is described in our Privacy Policy. The Policy explains what we collect, how long we keep it, and your rights under PIPEDA.
5. The Full Rules
This page summarises the key safeguarding rules so they're easy to find. The complete, binding versions live in our Terms & Conditions, section 7 (in-home and community session conduct), and in the tutor services agreement signed by every tutor before they begin working with students.